FAO Quotables

"But being right, even morally right, isn't everything. It is also important to be competent, to be consistent, and to be knowledgeable. It's important for your soldiers and diplomats to speak the language of the people you want to influence. It's important to understand the ethnic and tribal divisions of the place you hope to assist."
-Anne Applebaum

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Morocco's king destroying hope for democracy?

This is an interesting article because the official diplomatic line from Morocco is that they are a democracy.  Period.  I am always skeptical when I hear or read this in the media and wonder if most Moroccans view their country as a democracy. 

In reading the article, it would appear that most of the country isn't fooled.  This then leads me to a more important question:

Do the majority of Moroccans care whether they are a "democracy", or are they happy with the status quo?  I also think it's a bit naive for "us" to assume the rest of the world believes that a US democracy is the best way to govern...but that's for another post.

An excerpt:
"According to Morocco's new draft constitution, the king won't be "sacred" any more. Instead, the people will owe him respect and tawqeer - an Arabic term which means something between reverence and adoration. So how much of a paradigm change is it really? Although the US says it is "encouraged" by the draft constitution, this is not particularly good news for the monarchy. This mild praise from a rather unknown state department spokesperson during a routine press briefing demonstrates, if anything, the cautious retreat of US diplomacy."
Photo by Azzouz Boukallouch

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